Civil Society And Business: Bridging The Gap

“Civil Society and Business: Bridging the Gap” co-hosted by The William Davidson Institute (WDI) and ProConcept aims to bring together leaders in the nonprofit sector who are developing and/or utilizing innovative approaches to achieve greater financial sustainability and ultimately increased social impact. The conference aims to share best practices and to examine opportunities and obstacles for fostering social enterprise in the region.

The first day of the conference will include participant presentations on:

• Strategies for developing productive corporate – NGO partnerships
• Methods to reduce grant dependence and provide more sustainable services
• Application of business tools to better address social issues
• Adoption of revenue generating enterprises including membership fess, fees for services, product sales, and rental of equipment or real estate

The second day of the conference will include sessions on business plan writing, strategic management, and social capital presented by top business school professors and leading thinkers.

Participants will be affiliated with a civil society organization (CSO) located in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

Deadline for applications: April 14, 2006
Notification of selection: April 28, 2006
Deadline for draft submissions: May 26, 2006
Deadline for final papers: June 23, 2006
Conference dates: July 6-8, 2006
(conference will open with a gala reception on the evening of the 6th)

• Call for papers
• Online Application
• Agenda
• Participant Observer List
• Conference Venue
• List of Publications
  

This conference is a follow up to the conference “Rethinking the Way in Which NGOs Do Business” held in Bratislava, Slovakia in March, 2005.  This Conference is funded in part by the Balkan Trust for Democracy.

Questions can be directed to:

Kelly Janiga
Manager of Research Programs, William Davidson Institute janigak@umich.edu

or

Danko Cosic
Executive Director, ProConcept
dankocosic@proconcept.to